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Ben Odeje

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  • If you are on tour in contemporary Deptford 2013, I would recommend a visit to the old Deptford Power Station site in the Stowage which is now known as Millennium Quay http://www.facebook.com/MillenniumQuay?fref=ts , and which is now a living Thames Gateway, City Challenge regeneration 'Arts Lift' from the days of bomb sites, rubbish dumps, scrap metal yards, and of course derelict Power Stations. Just down the road opposite the Dog & Bell you will find the Convoys £££££££££££££££'s site which as you know Sir Terry Farrell of Farrells & the London Festival of Architecture 2013 team, have BIG PLANS for i.e http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=22491 Don't forget nothing symbolises the importance of ARCHITECTURE in London's success and place making more than the architecture of 'The Pearl in the Heart of Deptford' St Paul's SE8 MATE . I first played football against Ben Odeje in Deptford's Brookmill Park in 1967, when Ben was playing for Lucas Vale Primary School, & I was playing for Tidemill on the 'red gra' football pitch that no longer exists. Today in Brookmill Road you will find a stunning piece of architecture that is the Stephen Lawrence Centre http://www.stephenlawrence.org.uk/about-us/the-centre/ which is home to the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust who are developing the UNITY theme that I informed you all about earlier in the Ben Odeje thread UNITY A CONCERT FOR STEPHEN LAWRENCE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBh4oyDpEw8&safe=active
  • edited July 2013


    Thanks, Roy: I'll take in your points of interest on my next walk around Deptford: don't forget the 18th-century carved door cases in Albury Street. There's a striking vignette about Father Diamond in the biography: As you may know, he had a thing about pyrotechnics, loved fireworks. At one festival he arranged for cannons to be fired outside the church; after the smoke had cleared, all the dignitaries were covered in soot.

  • Viewfinder -

    I was the RICS qualified site agent & consultant for the regeneration of Albury Street SE8. As the Managing Director of Macsen Construction Ltd, 'The Deptford Builder' , I was responsible for the underpinning & demolition contracts, and I also provided the carpentry team with the help of Deptford Skill Centre. PGM were the developer, with English Heritage constantly looking over our shoulder. I used my local traditional woodworking contacts to replace the stolen 'angel' brackets above the doors. It was during this contract that Father Diamond & I combined our forces, and together we invited HRH The Prince of Wales to open St Paul's Court, as a symbolic 'A Deo et Rege' gesture of support for the regeneration of Deptford, her old Power Station, and the wider regeneration of London too. 25 year later I am just about to compose an email to Millwall's Chaplain Father Owen Beament, about the Ben Odeje thread on this messageboard, and the Charlton v Millwall game at the Valley on the 21st September 2013.
  • I'm impressed by your excellent work in Albury Street, Roy - will pay special attention to the angels and report back!
  • Viewfinder -

    Thank you for you kind words relating to my classic 'English Heritage' contributions to the regeneration of Deptford.

    The Deptford Dame is a contemporary blog, which I personally find to be, a valuable & inspiring source of contemporary information for and about true Deptford people. This post http://deptforddame.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/labour-party-de-selects-evelyn.html , and associated comments mention both Ben Odeje of Deptford, and the thread dedicated to Ben here on the Charlton Life messageboard
  • Thanks for the link, Roy - I was aware of the Deptford Dame but hadn't subscribed until now. I was in the northern half of Deptford High Street briefly yesterday (Saturday) morning and was struck by how interesting and unusual it is, with old buildings flanking the narrow thoroughfare. Will make a more extensive exploration soon.
  • NB All at http://forum.charltonlife.com

    Ben Odeje rang me yesterday and asked if I could forward him a historic photo/article about him, that I had posted on my facebook page so that he could use it a part of his coaching/teaching programme. Here is the BEN ODEJE email that I sent Cc the BBC's Marc Ashdown ; Kick It Out's Troy Townsend; the Deptford Dame ; the FA's James Webb Matt Phillips, & Johann Alexander : Brother Paul Coleman ;Czerwona Kartka Rasizmowi (Red Card to Racism)'s Piotr Malecki ; fareNET's Mariana Linhan :

    Ben Odeje of Deptford
    England's first black footballer

    Hi Ben

    It was good to hear from you again this morning.

    Here is the facebook link to photo of you' jumping for joy' in your South East London school uniform outside Addey House in Douglas Way Deptford SE8 when you received your England call up in 1971. The antiquated language in the associated article refers to you as the 'first coloured footballer to play for England schoolboys', which of course in today's world would have to say the 'first black footballer to play for England schoolboys' http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151654920029569&set=pb.540164568.-2207520000.1373447664.&type=3&theater

    The on-line discussion about the 'breaking' of your story after 42 years has certainly caused a stir here in South East London, with thousands of views of the BEN ODEJE thread on the Charlton Life message board. I think that you and your students will find the two pages of associated comments on this link to be of great interest http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/55316/ben-odeje#latest

    I've booked a seat for the following Kick It Out event, and I hope that news of our joint efforts to bring your story to light will be well received :

    Thursday, July 25, 2013 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

    Embrace diversity....and build your winning team
    7 Bedford Row
    WC1R London
    United Kingdom


    The following forwarded email * brings you, the BBC's Marc Ashdown, and Troy at Kick it Out, etc 100% up to speed with the latest Anglo-Nigerian Thames Gateway, City Challenge developments here in South East London. Dame Joan Ruddock is Deptford's MP, and I considered that this particular thread on a blog called The Deptford Dame was a very good place to plant a FARE seed of Anglo-Nigerian UNITY.

    I hope you agree.

    Kind regards


    Roy Hobson http://www.mixcloud.com/roy-hobson/ aka "Vesper"


    ROY HOBSON CInstCES1990, Grad Dipl QS 1981

    * See last comment http://deptforddame.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/labour-party-de-selects-evelyn.html
  • Thanks for keeping us informed, Roy - all very interesting, and I love the newspaper photo of Ben jumping for joy!
  • Ben just rang me again, and we discussed the interesting response we had yesterday from KIO's Troy Townsend i.e

    From: Troy Townsend
    To: ROY HOBSON
    Sent: Wednesday, 10 July 2013, 11:10
    Subject: Event

    Roy – I hope you’re well.

    I would like to speak with you about our forthcoming event; it is aimed specifically at individuals currently working in the game. It will be very focussed, and discussion will only be on themes relating to diversifying the game’s workforce.

    Do you currently work in the game? The event is prioritised for those who are and we would need to look at ensuring these people get first billing before we can confirm your place.

    Perhaps we can meet after the event to discuss your links with the anti-racism agenda?

    Best wishes

    Troy Townsend
    Mentoring & Leadership Project Manager
    Kick It Out | 4th Floor | 1-5 Clerkenwell Road | London | EC1M 5PA
    Tel: 020 7253 0162 Fax: 020 7253 5579
    www.kickitout.org


    If KIO exclude me at this event, then it somebody from Charlton Athletic who is familiar the content of BEN ODEJE thread http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/55316/ben-odeje#latest should attend. May I suggest the Chairman.
  • Roy - I'm saving a full tour of the parish for when MOG can join me, but I had a quick squint today at your excellent work on the angels in Albury Street - numbers 29 and 35. They are still very much aloft. However, I couldn't find Father Diamond's gravestone in the churchyard; very strange, considering there aren't many graves in total. Has it been nicked?! You'll be pleased to hear that on the exterior wall of St Nicholas is a tablet dedicated to John Addey, "one of the King's Master Shipwrights", 1606.

    Keep the flag flying, and God Save the Queen.
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  • Viewfinder - I have had to come into this thread via the Erith Library manager's computer, as the London Grid for Learning isn't allowing me access because the content falls under the heading of 'Profanity' (can you believe it?) and I can't get the POWERS THAT BE to correct it (since last week).

    I can however continue to interact on my own related thread Embrace diversity.... and build your winning team - Kick It Out event forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/comment/1568854#Comment_1568854

    Hope to see you there on my own first Charlton Life production.

  • "Profanity", when we're discussing spiritual matters! That's the bloody council all over for you....
  • Viewfinder -

    It seems that we are not profane today. The library staff and their contractors have at last removed the obstruction to freedom of speech, and expression.

    We British have been known to do a bit grave robbing in the past, from the pyramids in Egypt, to the crypts of our own Baroque Churches, but Father Diamond's grave was still there the last time I checked :-) If you stand under the portico of St Paul's looking toward Deptford High Street, turn your head slightly to the right and you will see Father Diamond's grave at ground level just in front of the Church before you reach the gate to the low level fence.. There are normally some flowers in a vase, and if you look up closely you will see that the letters MW - Maria Walsingham are etched into Father Diamond's horizontal tombstone, thereby establishing the link to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, which has great significance for both C of E and RC too.

    I was christened at St Nicholas in 1956 long before the eccentric Canon Graham Corneck decided to add the crossbones to skulls adorning the piers at the front gate. The Thames Gateway, City Challenge symbolism of EZEKIEL'S VISION OF THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES - Ezek. 37 was lost and became St Nick's became the 'Pirates Church' for the American market. I love John Addey's tablet on the rear wall as it is directly linked to my own Addey & Stanhope A Deo et Rege education. Hearts of oak that Deptford made guarded England well. Long gone the ships but stands the school the shipwrights work to tell......

    This thread has linked Ben Odeje of Deptford, to Father Diamond of Deptford, I know Ben remembers Father Diamond well, and I'd like to think that Father Diamond would approve of this thread, and my own Embrace diversity.... and build your winning team - Kick It Out event http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/comment/1568854#Comment_1568854 which I hope you will visit soon.
  • edited July 2013
    Thanks for all your interesting info, Roy - and I'm glad to hear the council have lifted their outrageous gagging order. Yes, it must have been my own short-sightedness that caused me to miss Fr Diamond. Speaking of grave robbing, a friend who was raised in Deptford told me that a wartime bomb that hit St Nick's disturbed a grave and uncovered a box of silver sovereigns - which was duly snaffled by one of the locals. That's the stuff! I didn't know the crossbones are a recent addition; admired the unusual trees and knew you'd like the Addey connection. Having known Deptford for almost 50 years I was pleasantly surprised by the High Street: it's on the up. And much youthful and creative endeavour at the Laban and in all the artists' studios along Creekside. Bravo!

    Keep the flag flying. God Save the Queen.
  • I texted Ben Odeje yesterday morning with a "HAPPY 95TH BIRTHDAY MADIBA" related text. In the afternoon I responded to Troy Townsend
    Mentoring & Leadership Project Manager www.kickitout.org with regard to next weeks event
  • Yesterday I received this email from Kick It Out's Troy Townsend :


    Roy,

    I have been forwarded an email which concerns me, which has come via one of our event partners.

    The event on Thursday is not an opportunity for anyone to discuss campaigns, no matter how noble they are, unrelated to the subject at hand, and is solely focussed on football business.

    In addition, we are now oversubscribed with practitioners working in the football industry, and therefore need to prioritise these individuals.

    To that end, we have taken your name off the list for Thursday’s event. We also feel that your objectives for attending aren’t in line with the tone of the event itself. This has been proved on a number of email communications.

    As previously suggested, I would be happy to meet you at another more appropriate time.

    Kind regards

    Troy Townsend
    Mentoring & Leadership Project Manager
    Kick It Out | 4th Floor | 1-5 Clerkenwell Road | London | EC1M 5PA
    Tel: 020 7253 0162 Fax: 020 7253 5579
    www.kickitout.org

    Here is my email response which was copied to both Ben Odeje and the BBC's Marc Ashdown too :

    Troy Townsend
    Mentoring & Leadership Project Manager
    Kick It Out | 4th Floor | 1-5 Clerkenwell Road | London | EC1M 5PA

    Dear Mr Townsend

    I am pleased that The Work Foundation forwarded you the UNLOCK DEMOCRACY email that I copied them into yesterday.

    You say that the Embrace diversity....and build your winning team event on Thursday is solely focused on football business, and you then go on to exclude me from the event, an individual who has recently made a major contribution to the breaking of the suppressed story regarding my former Charlton Athletic Le Havre Tour team mate Ben Odeje, the first black footballer to play for England at any level, who suffered being called a "liar" for 42 years.

    As an individual and sole principle in private practice, I also possess a leading case for the defence against police backed NF/BNP entry-ism into London's Sporting/Planning Arena, this over 22 years after discovering that the odious NF/BNP leadership were being allowed to use the Old Addeyans FC/Densitron International PLC clubhouse development, for their malevolent 'planning for real meetings'. Prior to the case being referred to the Met Commissioner's Office in 2004, by John Austin the former MP for Erith & Thamesmead, Lucy Faulkner the FA's Ethics and Sports Equity Manager obtained a confession from Old Addeyans FC which was at the time a major breakthrough, and which has subsequently allowed me to progress the case even further, first to the Home Secretary's Office, and now to the point that we have arrived at today where the IPCC have upheld my appeal against the non-recording of my complaint against the Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, by Stephen Greenhalgh the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, with the IPCC referrinng the complaint back to MOPAC's Professional Standards. All of this is critical football related business, which as football doesn't exist in isolation, also has wider relevance to Thames Gateway, City Challenge developments here in South East London which I have been involved with since inception.

    Today I have received a related letter from Bexleyheath Police Station, and I have also heard on the radio that we have a new woman QC as head of the CPS who represented the Lawrence Family in their fight for JUSTICE NOT VENGEANCE, and on the same radio broadcast it was also announced that Nicholas Jacobs (44) has been charged with the murder of PC Keith Blakelock some 28years after his murder on Broadwater Farm in Tottenham.

    CHRIST HELP US!

    Yours sincerely

    Roy Hobson http://www.mixcloud.com/roy-hobson/ aka "Vesper"
  • Good to see Benny still associated with the club
  • Stig said:
    Just emailed Jason Morgan supporting this. Hopefully we can get Ben down to the museum to talk about his time at CAFC.
  • Article on him in The Sun today.
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  • edited November 2018
    Also in the Times last Saturday.
  • This is a strange thread - there are lots of replies to "Roy" but the comments from him that are being replied to aren't there.
  • MrOneLung said:

    Article on him in The Sun today.

    Photo please @MrOneLung
  • I no longer have the paper but I did find this pic online

    image
  • edited November 2018
    MrOneLung said:

    Article on him in The Sun today.

    An article appeared in the Daily Mirror earlier this month.
    https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/meet-ben-odeje-the-black-13585617
  • rananegra said:

    This is a strange thread - there are lots of replies to "Roy" but the comments from him that are being replied to aren't there.

    Yes, it's confused the bejesus out of me.
  • edited November 2018
    clive said:

    MrOneLung said:

    Article on him in The Sun today.

    An article appeared in tthe Daily Mirror earlier this month.
    https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/meet-ben-odeje-the-black-13585617
    Still shocking reading how badly black people were treated in the 70s.
  • Live on talksport now.
  • Being interviewed on Robert Elms shows on BBC London now.
  • edited July 2021
    Had a few practice games with the Charlton youth team with Ben. He once “nudged” me off the ball and it felt like I’d been hit by a train. I remember him being a nice lad.
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